Today’s guest blogger is StemX CEO Dominic Chapman. StemX is a video interviewing platform to make recruiting more efficient, user-friendly and far more convenient, allowing employers to be able to choose from a larger pool of candidates in much less time.

I’ve recently been doing a lot of research on marketing and how recruiters can turn themselves into a personal brand to enable them to be seen by more people, improve trust and ultimately grow their business. I am still finding that a lot of recruiters still take the old school approach to recruitment by picking up the phone and utilising their network. This still works great, but these things aren’t going to disappear.

There is another way; sharing personal brand through social media. The knowledge that you have gained over the years as a recruiter, is invaluable. Being open and sharing that knowledge with the world will change the way that new clients find you forever. It all sounds like scary stuff but the more you break it down, the easier it gets. So, I’m going to do a little step by step process on how to build a personal brand and bring in more clients.

Step 1. Find your Mission and your Niche

Your mission and niche will make it 100 times clearer on what content you need to be producing. For example, my mission statement is ‘On a mission to empower small businesses through technology’ and my niche is to help and support small businesses and start-ups.

The reason for this for me? This mission statement aligns with both my business (StemX) and it allows me to cover a wide enough topic that I won’t run out of content, but narrow enough that the right audience is going to see it. Once you have this, you are one step closer.

Step 2. Align your Personal Brand across all Social Media Platforms

Get a great picture of yourself or find one that you previously have. The iPhone Portrait mode looks fantastic and means you don’t need to go to a professional. Align all the social media platforms with the same image and bio to get some consistency.

Step 3. Start Creating

This is by far the toughest part, you may fear you are putting out the wrong thing or worry what people might say, but you’ve got to get past this! There is a technique called ‘Pillar Content’, I’m going to attach a presentation with the thesis but explain it briefly here. EVERYTHING you do each day can be turned into content. https://www.slideshare.net/vaynerchuk/the-garyvee-content-model-107343659

A phone call with a client advising them how to write a job spec? Turn it into a blog post and newsletter. Speaking at a conference? Turn that into a video, podcast, image posts, blog AND a newsletter. I’ve added a simple link to all the different platforms you can utilise from the video, text and audio content you are creating. Distribute to all of them, because you never know where they are watching or listening.
Link here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lzshe9ul7eg5fbo/Different%20platforms%20to%20distrubute%20content.docx?dl=0

Step 4. Be Patient, Consistent and Listen

Be consistent. Post consistently and evenly across the platforms that you decide to engage with. Whether it is daily, weekly or monthly, you need to be creating plenty of content and getting your team and friends involved to like, repost and share your content!

Listen. Get feedback from your audience and listen carefully. This doesn’t necessarily have to be actual comments, but look at the engagement you are getting. If one piece of content gets huge engagement, do similar content again and if that happens again, you know you’ve hit a sweet spot to double down on.

Finally, be patient. This isn’t going to happen overnight. Just because you post 3 times a week doesn’t mean that it isn’t going to work, give it at least 3 months before changing your strategy and thinking about other platforms. You really do have to be patient.

Extra tip: The steps ahead and the links attached hopefully should get you going to at least produce more content then you probably are now, but there’s one more thing to boost your personal brand.

Engage. Engage with other influencers and leverage other audiences, this can be through meeting up with them or just simply resharing and commenting on their posts. Trust me, it works!

The result of all this? You’ll start to get noticed. You will become the ‘go to’ person for your niche and I can guarantee you will see an increase on your bottom line.

Recruiters are all-too familiar with the seasonal wind-down that happens around this time of year. Typically, there’s not much hiring going on around the holidays and it usually ramps back up after the new year. But instead of hitting up an ugly Christmas sweater party, the holiday season is actually a great opportunity for recruitment. Many people take time off, so the quiet stretch of December makes for a good time to focus in on your recruitment process. Read the rest of this entry »

With the US midterm elections behind us, it is time for employers, recruiters, candidates and hiring managers to get back to filling important job openings. But what impact will the results of the elections have on the workplace? Here are some things to consider:

Access to Global Talent

The control of the US House of Representatives by Democrats will certainly add more conversation to the rules around immigration reform and how difficult it will be for employers in need of accessing global talent. The ease of immigration for global talent will not dramatically increase anytime soon. Perhaps employers and politicians can work together to better define the needs for the specific global talent needed to fill currently unfillable position openings. A better immigration methodology is long overdue. Hard-to-find STEM positions should be easier to fill with recent graduates and a predictable immigration system that allows global talent to access US jobs.

Pay Equity

Momentum around pay equity is gaining speed, energy and action. While a long-term topic, some states and jurisdictions have taken action to stop the use of salary history as a way to level the playing field around pay equity. With a Democratic-led House, there will be increasing levels of legislation and discussion around pay equity, as there is still substantial disparity after years of awareness and discussion.

Employee Healthcare and Benefits

House Democrats will keep healthcare and employee benefits as a key national debate in the US. The linkage between employment and healthcare is a relatively-unique US condition. While that bond between employment and health coverage is not likely to end anytime soon, employers will be challenged to use the benefit strategically while keeping their costs under control. Increases in costs will bring this unique relationship under increasing stress. A need for increasing tax revenues may bring more previously untaxed benefits under government scrutiny.

Consult with Professionals

For employers looking for assistance navigating this challenging landscape, they will need to consider using a recruitment professional. Small employers will have a tough time staying fully informed and compliant with new rules and legislation when going it alone.

What are some trends or issues you see gaining momentum as a result of the recent midterm elections?

I see countless posts from recruiters who are curious about split placement recruitment, but aren’t sure how to get started. They’re often asking for advice about how to be successful with splits. I would like to offer two critical tips to improve your odds of success.

1. Commit to excellent communication. Split placement recruitment involves some risk. If you are providing the candidate, you’re trusting the partner to pay you. If you are providing the job, you’re trusting your partner not to interfere with your client relationship. At a minimum:

Use a written, SIGNED agreement that covers all the details from how much the fee is, to when you’ll get paid, and what happens in the event of a fall-off

Be clear about who is doing what … and how and when those tasks will get completed

Don’t withhold information from your partner … be open and transparent

Make a commitment to closing a deal … especially if you’re working on a contingency basis

2. Find someone with a similar working style. We often tell members to keep an open mind about new ways of doing business, and that’s true. Split placement recruitment partners can teach you a lot of new skills and information that you can apply to your business. However, most successful split partnerships in our network are between members who have similar work styles. For example:

Do you like to rely on email, while your partner prefers the phone?

If you’re providing the candidate, are you OK letting your partner control the process? Are you going to try to ‘sell’ your candidate even if your partner’s client wants a different profile?

If you’re providing the job, how do you help your partner recruit on-target candidates?

How often do you expect to hear from your partner?

There are many ways to be a successful recruiter. The way you work works for you. It may not work for someone else. It may not be the same way THEY work. It doesn’t mean either of you are right or wrong, good or bad, just different. If you’re trying to work a deal with someone who has a totally different approach to the business, and you can’t find common ground, it’s OK to move on. Find someone whose style meshes better with your own. It will save you time, heartache, and damaged relationships.

On a search for split placement opportunities, many recruiters seem to question what is the difference between some of the online platforms that they have seen or are currently researching. Here at NPAworldwide, I occasionally am asked by independent recruiters how our network is different and better than BountyJobs. In my opinion, neither one is necessarily better than the other as they are so very different. As an independent recruiter, deciding which to join will depend on how you like to work.

The following is a brief summary of the key differences between NPAworldwide and BountyJobs:

1. Organization Structure
NPAworldwide is a member-owned and -run network of independently-owned recruiting firms that work together to make split placements. The network began in 1956 and has grown into a network of more than 500 firms located throughout the world.

Owners of NPAworldwide firms set the strategic direction of the network. The network is led by a Board of Directors of owners of member firms and has a selective membership process. At the end of the year, profits are re-invested in the network to continue and improve services to our members.

Membership gives independent recruiters and small firms a way to compete in a global marketplace without sacrificing the unique qualities that distinguish them from larger competitors. Members rely on our split placement network to build relationships that result in more effective and efficient service to clients and candidates in their own market. Those relationships translate into enhanced revenue-generating opportunities and increased financial stability. In the process, members also add value to their businesses through improved speed, reach, and capacity.

BountyJobs is a privately-owned company so I do not know how profits are spent or distributed. The organization appears to be a good solution for large employers managing a high volume of open positions resulting in the need for them to manage relationships with many recruiters.

2. Work Style
Success in NPAworldwide is a result of the relationships built between recruiters. The quickest way to build trust with potential trading partners is to meet face-to-face at one of our conferences. Of course, if that is not possible, recruiters develop relationships through telephone, Skype, and/or email conversations.

In BountyJobs, independent recruiters only work with employers and have limited opportunities to build a relationship with an employer until much later in the hiring process.

3. Control
In NPAworldwide, recruiters post jobs and candidates in our private, web-based sharing tool called Matchmaker. Recruiters may work on any job, anywhere in the world. We also have a private Job Board where only NPAworldwide recruiters can post their jobs. Members can post their jobs for free on our Job Board and only pay if they place a Job Board candidate in a job. With NPAworldwide, an individual recruiter is in control of how they work with their trading partners as long as they abide by the Bylaws and operating procedures.

BountyJobs is a one-way street. Employers post jobs through BountyJobs. Then after viewing posted jobs, recruiters may contact employers and request that they be given permission to send candidates to the employers. A recruiter cannot speak with an employer unless the employer authorizes the recruiter to send candidates. After the permission is granted, the recruiter is able to view the full contact information of the employer. Wiith BountyJobs, the employer is definitely in control.

Additionally, NPAworldwide recruiters control the type of guarantee they offer employers. With BountyJobs, recruiters have no control. All recruiters are required to provide a 60-day money back guarantee; no exceptions.

In conclusion, which option is better for independent recruiters to join – NPAworldwide or BountyJobs? It depends! NPAworldwide is a relationship-based network facilitating split placements among its members. If you prefer to not build relationships with your trading partners, then you should consider BountyJobs. Or, if you are undecided, you may want to consider joining both and experiencing them each firsthand.

If you do consider joining BountyJobs as an independent recruiter, I suggest you take some time to understand how candidate ownership is addressed. Specifically, who owns the candidate six months after a recruiter submits the candidate to an employer.

We are settling into new headquarters after moving from our previous home of 25 years. A lot of things in our business have changed since the last time we moved! For starters, the amount of equipment we have now compared to back in 1994 is significantly reduced. In fact, we accomplished the move in a single truckload! We don’t require nearly the same square footage that we did back then, so the new space is right-sized for our leaner structure. If you’re considering a move for your recruitment office, here are a few pointers based on our experience.

Rent or buy? In our case, we sold our longtime home and opted to rent space. Our former headquarters building was too large for our needs, and difficult to attract tenants due to a lack of street visibility (desirable for many businesses). The benefits of ownership no longer outweighed the downsides, including building maintenance, groundskeeping, snow removal, and more. The rent or buy decision is one of the first you’ll need to make if you’re thinking about moving your recruitment office.

Current versus future needs. We have fewer staff working in our headquarters location than we used to. Some wish to work remotely on a more frequent basis. We may need to have a part-time intern occasionally, but right now we’re not expecting tremendous growth in headcount. You’ll want to make sure you consider your current staffing needs versus your long-term growth plans as you consider your move. Purchasing a building can make it difficult to expand or contract as needed. Rental space *can* be more flexible, but you probably don’t want to move every 3-5 years, either.

Municipal requirements. Even though we only moved about five miles from our previous location, we’re in a different municipality now. That means different fees, different services, and different tax obligations … some slightly worse, some a little better. Make sure you understand what’s required in your new municipality and how it differs, especially if there are payroll tax considerations.

Plan for the unexpected. We woke up to a winter snowstorm that brought several inches of wet, slushy, dirty, slippery snow … NOT the weather you want for moving! We also had some challenges with our technology (not really *unexpected* as anyone who has ever moved house will agree). It took longer to load and unload the moving truck than we thought it might. When it comes time for your recruitment office to relocate, assume there will be some things that don’t go according to plan. Some you can’t control (weather), while others you may be able to mitigate (starting some of the technology changes before you move).

There are hundreds of other details involved when moving. Give yourself plenty of time, be relentless in purging items you no longer need/want/use, and use a checklist or spreadsheet to keep track of the details and timeline for a smooth process. You’ll reduce your stress and be able to enjoy the excitement of the change!

At BuzzRecruiter, their motto is Connect, Communicate, and Compete – they are committed to helping recruiters connect with clients and top talent, communicate with them through savvy design and marketing communications, and compete to place those top candidates with leading companies in a variety of industries. Recruitment is an active process and they can help you hone your public image for the best results.

BuzzRecruiter.com is proud to serve the NPAworldwide organization and its affiliated members. To learn more, please visit www.buzzrecruiter.com

Interactive content is one of the hottest trends in web design. Check out these 7 tips to learn how you can incorporate it on your recruitment agency website.

As of last fall, researchers have shown that 51% of content marketers are now leaning on interactive content to engage visitors. While you might think of this as the realm of media or commercial sites, this approach can be useful for a recruitment agency website as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Our guest blogger is Gregg Whitt with Professional Personnel Associates in Clemson, South Carolina. Gregg is a longtime member of NPAworldwide, currently serving on the board of directors. Professional Personnel Associates provides recruitment services in the technical, engineering, manufacturing, professional, and management fields across the United States. Read his thoughts on your recruiting attitude below.

Remember the times when you posted your job openings in your publication of choice without really putting too much effort into it? Or the times when you posted a job opening on one or two job boards, and just waited and got many high-quality applicants? Read the rest of this entry »

As a recruiting firm, have you considered working internationally but haven’t “pulled the trigger?” Maybe you’re a solo recruiter with limited resources and don’t think you can take on international recruitment. Or maybe your firm doesn’t want to have to navigate the legalities and regulations of another country. Yes, these can be challenges, but the fastest and easiest way to surmount them is to work with a trading partner who has experience in international recruitment and understands the local laws.

A valuable international recruitment partner will be able to find top talent, screen the candidates, and manage the interview and hiring process. This can save you time and money, and help you satisfy all of your clients’ needs.

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For more than 60 years, NPAworldwide has been connecting independent global recruiting firms to facilitate split placements. NPAworldwide is the oldest recruiting network of its kind, with an international membership of recruiting firms located throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Americas.